imb.uq.edu.au · 2 imb annual report 2015 imb annual report 2015 3 cover artwork cellular...

IMB ANNUAL REPORT 2015 1

Annual Report 2015

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IMB ANNUAL REPORT 2015 3 2 IMB ANNUAL REPORT 2015

Cover artwork Cellular Intelligence by Joannah Underhill This work refers to the innate intelligence of all cellular organisms to arrange and organise themselves in the service of the whole. In their non-verbal understanding of the world, cells have the power and intelligence to rearrange themselves to allow more cells in, or push others out as required, and to automatically find and know their functions and place in the body.

Multi-layered in its approach, this painting has a depth that speaks to the constant osmotic exchange between cellular forms. It visualises the artist’s exploration of groupings within and between cells to facilitate exchange and communication.

Cellular Intelligence forms part of Brisbane artist Joannah Underhill’s (1978-2014) IMB artist-in-residency collection, Envisaging the Invisible.

Read more at jounderhill.com

You can buy official prints from the collection, which are signed by the artist, at www.imb.uq.edu.au/prints, with all proceeds supporting IMB’s vital research.

AcknowledgementsThis report was published by IMB Communications in April 2016 and records the institute’s achievements between 1 January and 31 December 2015. To enquire about this report please email [email protected]

CRICOS Provider No. 00025B

6 2015 snapshot

8 Vice-Chancellor and President’s message

9 Director’s message

10 Discovery 12 Research highlights

18 Research centres

20 Grants, fellowships and awards

22 Learning 24 Research training

26 Research higher degree students

28 Research higher degree conferrals

30 Engagement 32 Research commercialisation

34 Global collaborations

38 Community engagement

42 Scientific engagement

44 Structure and governance 46 Organisational structure

47 Advisory board

50 Strategic management committee

54 Our people

57 Joint appointments and affiliates

58 Supporting information 60 Financial statement

61 Research grants

65 Research support facilities

68 Occupational health and safety

69 Scientific publications

84 Discoveries inspired by life

85 Thank you to our major supporters

CONTENTS

mailto:communications%40imb.uq.edu.au?subject=2015%20IMB%20Annual%20Report


ABOUTThe University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) is a multidisciplinary scientific research institute committed to improving quality of life through research and translation.

Our researchers discover the fundamental mechanisms of biology and human disease and translate these findings into new drugs and diagnostics for global health, and improved products and processes for industry and the environment.

MissionOur mission is to advance scientific knowledge and deliver new health and industry applications from the best in life sciences research.

VisionOur vision is to be a global leader in the discovery and application of molecular life sciences research.

Research divisions• Chemistry and Structural Biology

• Genomics of Development and Disease

• Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine

Research centres and breakthrough programs• Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research

• Centre for Pain Research

• Centre for Rare Diseases Research

• Centre for Superbug Solutions

• Breakthrough Science Program in Biomembrane Design

• Breakthrough Science Program in Algal Biomedicine

• Breakthrough Science Program in Mechanobiology

Strategic priorities• Discovery excellence

• Translation impacts

• Learning

• Leadership and engagement

• Equity and sustainability

Share in our discoveriesSubscribe to our IMB news and event updates imb.uq.edu.au/subscribe

Join our social communities

Twitter.com/IMBatUQ

Facebook.com/InstituteforMolecularBioscience

Youtube.com/IMBatUQ

4 IMB ANNUAL REPORT 2015

Our research impact spans the

areas of

Agriculture

Cancer

Inflammation

Clean energy

Pain

Diabetes and obesity

Rare diseases

Heart and cardiovascular diseases

Superbugs

http://www.imb.uq.edu.au/chemistry-and-structural-biologyhttp://www.imb.uq.edu.au/genomics-of-development-and-diseasehttp://www.imb.uq.edu.au/molecular-cell-biologyhttp://http://inflammation.imb.uq.edu.au/http://http://pain.imb.uq.edu.au/http://http://rarediseases.imb.uq.edu.au/http://superbugs.imb.uq.edu.au/http://imb.uq.edu.au/subscribehttp://Twitter.com/IMBatUQhttp://Facebook.com/InstituteforMolecularBiosciencehttp://Youtube.com/IMBatUQ

6 IMB ANNUAL REPORT 2015 IMB ANNUAL REPORT 2015 7

56

139UQ undergraduate lectures

delivered by IMB researchers

8scientific, industry and

business leaders appointed to the IMB Advisory Board

10active ARC Linkage Projects

with industry partners

4% not-for-profit

115

435researchers, postgraduate students and support staff

5delivered to the community for every $1 invested by the

Queensland Government

1300+media mentions valued

at $3.7 million

135seminars hosted by IMB

35volunteer science

ambassadors

4705

uni students, high school students and teachers toured IMB

external visitors to the Queensland Bioscience Precinct

500+

72% academic

11% industry

13% clinical

EN

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129active research higher

degree students

78honours students achieved

first class honours

28

$

%

%

research higher degree students graduated

honours, undergraduate, occupational trainee and coursework masters

students hosted at IMB

35% Australia + New Zealand 2% South America

1% Africa

31% Europe11% Asia

47joint appointments

and affiliates

44high-impact

scientific publications (impact factor >10)

33group leaders

total income sourced from competitive grants

37competitive

fellowships held

59new research

projects commenced thanks to new funding

231research staff

research divisions on-site world-class research support

facilities

344scientific publications

4Fellows of the Australian

Academy of Science

28organisations

awarded competitive funding to IMB

dIS

CO

vE

ry

Major collaborators by type

298 Global collaborations

Total income $29.8M Peer reviewed (competitive) $19.4M Operating $3.5M Philanthropy, commercialisation and other income and recoveries

Distribution of expenditure $43.3M Research $4.1M Infrastructure $3M Administration $2.7M Capital equipment

Operating (core) income $3.3M UQ awarded grants $14.3M UQ operating funding $1.8M Sales and services revenue

Collaborators by continent

Patent families managed: 5 agricultural/industrial biotechnology 6 diagnostics/devices 4 drug discovery tools 1 therapeutic target 19 therapeutics

35

3 7

20% North America

Encouraging innovationOur staff and students received numerous awards and grants throughout the year to pursue innovative research projects from investigating the role of inflammation in Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, to converting plants into biofactories for insecticides and drugs.

IMB researchers received more than $7.8 million in ARC funding, and more than $16 million in NHMRC funding to pursue discoveries in a range of health and environment areas. This funding was complemented by investment from philanthropic organisations such as the Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundations and trustee Perpetual, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Heart Foundation.

Our research centres have been hard at work, making discoveries in the areas of pain, superbugs, inflammation and rare diseases. The IMB Centre for Pain Research found new potential painkillers in unlikely places, exploring cone snail, spider and centipede venoms in the search for new, more effective drugs. The IMB Centre for Superbug Solutions was officially launched along with a worldwide search for the next antibiotic to combat superbugs. The IMB Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research worked with an international team to develop an oral experimental drug to better treat inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, liver disease and dementia. The IMB Centre for Rare Diseases Research forged stronger clinical and community relationships with the appointment of centre director Associate Professor Carol Wicking to the Rare Voices Australia Scientific Medical Advisory Committee. IMB group leaders will be part of the new UQ Centre for Cardiac & Vascular Biology, announced in late 2015, with Dr Ben Hogan being named Co-Director.

Celebrating our peopleWe welcomed two new group leaders to IMB in 2015. Dr Joseph Powell joins us from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, and brings his skill in using large-scale, high-throughput genomic data to investigate how DNA sequence variants contribute to human disease. Dr Nathan Palpant joins us from the University of Washington, and brings significant expertise within the areas of stem cells and cardiovascular development and regeneration. Both Joseph and Nathan are valuable additions to our community who will strengthen and extend our genomic and cardiovascular research.

We were pleased to welcome to our Advisory Board Associate Professor Bev Rowbotham, Director of Haematology at Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology and Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pathology at The University of Queensland, and Dr Anand Gautam, Director of Innovation Sourcing, Biopharmaceutical Research Unit, Novo Nordisk, Denmark. Bev and Anand are both delighted to contribute their depth of expertise and knowledge in advising and supporting IMB on its future development and success, and we are equally delighted to have them join us.

We farewelled two long-serving group leaders during 2015: Professor Melissa Little and Associate Professor Tim Bailey. We thank Melissa and Tim for their valued contributions to kidney research and bioscience software development respectively, and we look forward to maintaining research links with both.

UQ vICE-CHANCELLOr ANd PrESIdENT’S MESSAGE

dIrECTOr’S MESSAGE

As an institute dedicated to excellent science and improving quality of life, the Institute for Molecular Bioscience is creating change for individuals and society.

The broad IMB community of students, staff, alumni, donors and partners drives us to discover, inspires us to innovate, and compels us to create change in the world by developing new drugs and diagnostics for global health, and improved products and processes for industry and the environment.

Partners in successThe culture of collaboration and innovation at IMB attracts the support of an impressive list of national and international industry, clinical and not-for-profit partners. IMB consistently delivers fundamental life sciences breakthroughs and advances in disease detection and treatments, industrial processes, and environmental sustainability.

During 2015, IMB researchers forged strong collaborations with leading companies in the pharmaceutical, agricultural and biofuels sectors. These partnerships, some of which are highlighted below, provide a clear pathway for translating the institute’s great research into tremendous products and services for society turning excellence into ‘excellence plus’:

• Professors David Craik and David Fairlie teamed with Pfizer Australia to produce a new class of drugs by engineering peptide drugs to be taken as a tablet rather than via injection;

• Professor Ben Hankamer was awarded a $340,000 Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project grant to work with global engineering and construction firm KBR and renewable energy company Muradel to produce renewable algal biofuels and animal feeds;

• Professor Kirill Alexandrov and drug discovery company Phylogica Ltd received a $670,242 ARC Linkage Project grant to develop technology for producing peptide-based pharmaceuticals.

Global impactIMB makes a significant contribution to UQ’s consistent placement well inside the top 100 in research-focussed global university rankings, and in the top 50 in several of these. The institute also boosts our standing in the prestigious Nature Publishing Index Asia Pacific, where UQ leads Australian institutions and is among the Asia Pacific’s top 10. Impressively, IMB researchers contributed 33 per cent of UQ’s ranking in the Nature Publishing Index Asia Pacific as at the last quarter of 2015.

UQ continues to lead Australia for research income in the prestigious ARC Discovery scheme and Discovery Early Career Researcher awards.

IMB researchers achieved around three times the national average success rate for both ARC and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding in 2015. These pleasing figures are a testament to IMB’s culture of research excellence and innovation.


Engaging our community During the year we had 500+ visitors tour IMB, 35 volunteer science ambassadors running tours and helping with events, and more than 135 seminars hosted at IMB.

We invited our community to explore brain cancer, pain and superbugs at our very successful public events, featuring speakers including renowned neurosurgeon Professor Charlie Teo AM, ‘spray-on skin’ pioneer and 2005 Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Wood AM, quadruple amputee Matthew Ames and video messages from burns survivor Turia Pitt, England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies DBE, FRS and former Bond girl and superbug survivor Daphne Deckers. We also hosted the third forum in our Life Sciences@UQ series, designed to allow researchers, industry and government representatives to network and strengthen Queensland’s life sciences sector.

This report records our collective achievements and I thank and commend our staff and students for their contributions. I also thank our donors and partners for their ongoing support; it is through these partnerships that we can conduct world-class life sciences research to improve quality of life for all.

Professor Brandon Wainwright Director, Institute for Molecular Bioscience

Inspired leadersFrom its inspired research leaders to its rising scientific stars, IMB exemplifies UQ’s vision to create a better world through knowledge leadership. Some of the IMB researchers recognised in 2015 for their drive to create positive change included:

• Professor Mike Waters, who was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science during a career spanning more than 45 years;

• Professor David Craik, who received $1 million from the Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundations and trustee Perpetual to revolutionise pharmacy by growing drugs in plants;

• Dr Sónia Henriques, who received one of only 50 ARC Future Fellowships awarded nationally, to develop transporters to allow drug delivery into cells and new strategies for biofuel production;

• Professor Jenny Martin, who championed the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) initiative as a member of the SAGE Forum Steering Committee, signing up 32 institutions around Australia—including UQ—to improve gender equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM); and

• PhD student Angie Jarrad, who won the Queensland Women in Technology (WiT) PhD Career Start Award for her research to develop antibiotics to fight gut pathogens.

I congratulate and thank Director Professor Brandon Wainwright and all IMB staff, students and supporters who have been instrumental in the positive outcomes achieved throughout 2015. I look forward to following your future discoveries, and the benefits they will yield for many generations, well into the future.

Professor Peter Høj Vice-Chancellor and President The University of Queensland

Research highlights

Research centres

Grants, fellowships and awards


dISCOvEry

Associate Professor Matt Sweet and Dr Ronan Kapetanovic


MEdICINE TO GrOw ON TrEES

Taking medicine in the future could be as simple as eating a sunflower seed or drinking a cup of tea made from herbs grown in your own garden.

IMB’s Professor David Craik and collaborator Professor Marilyn Anderson AO from La Trobe University received $1 million from the Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundations, administered by trustee Perpetual, to turn plants into pharmaceutical factories.

Thanks to the award, a world with cheaper, more accessible medicines—particularly for the world’s poor—is not so far away.

“The aim of our research is to create a new generation of drugs to treat everything from HIV to chronic pain,” David said.

“We really think these drugs could have major advantages for the developing world.

“The life expectancy of a male in Tanzania today is only 47 years, largely because of HIV/AIDS—and it’s not that we don’t have good medicines for HIV, the problem is that the medicines are unaffordable for many people there.

“We are working to create drugs that can be grown in fields rather than factories, allowing large-scale, low-cost production in the backyards of the very people who need access to them.”

Starting the cycleThe plant-grown drugs will be based on molecules called cyclic peptides, or cyclotides, that plants naturally produce.

Peptides are mini-proteins made up of a string of amino acids, the body’s building blocks. Unlike most peptides, the ends of a cyclotide are joined together to form a circle, with chemical links across the structure to keep it stable.

“Cyclotides bridge the gap between traditional oral drugs, which are inexpensive but non-specific in their function, such as common painkillers, and protein-based drugs, such as insulin, which are specific but expensive and need to be injected,” David said.

“The cyclotide drugs we are developing are very specific, and can be taken orally, thus simultaneously having the advantages of both traditional and protein-based drugs.

“Ordinary peptides are usually broken down quickly by the body’s digestive enzymes, so we use the chemical trick of joining the ends together to stabilise them.

“The cyclic structure makes these peptide drugs harder for digestive enzymes to get at, giving the drug more time in the body to do its work.

“These drugs may also be safer, as when they eventually get digested they break into individual amino acids, the same as those found in our food.”

Growing successThe research team has already made progress with a pain relief drug made by combining venom peptides from a cone snail with Arabidopsis, a useful plant for genetic studies. The drug has shown positive results in animal trials.

The team is now working with petunia and canola plants for leaf- and seed-based expression of drugs, and potato and soybean as edible bio-pills.

“In ongoing projects with collaborators we are designing peptides for treating cancer, pain, diabetes, obesity, and autoimmune, cardiovascular and infectious diseases,” David said.

“We will be able to combine these peptides with a cyclotide scaffold, then use plant biofactories to inexpensively produce large quantities of the drugs.

“Our focus in the next few years is to optimise the pain relief drug already under development, produce anti-obesity peptides in potatoes, and produce anti-cancer peptides in sunflower and soybean.”

Fruitful partnershipThe $1 million funding from the Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundations, administered by trustee Perpetual, will be used to establish the Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Facility (CVRF) for Producing Pharmaceuticals in Plants, to be based at IMB.

The facility has the potential to accelerate the development of plant-derived and plant-based pharmaceuticals, revolutionising translation of early-stage discoveries to tangible therapies, and potentially impacting the lives of millions of people.

“This type of blue sky research falls outside the realm typically funded by government or industry so we are particularly grateful to the Ramaciotti Foundations for their support,” David said.

The Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award is presented every two years, and this is the first time it has been awarded to Queensland.



TAkING THE STING OUT OF PAINLurking inside the world’s most toxic creatures are hidden keys to curing pain. IMB researchers are exploring the venoms of spiders, scorpions, centipedes and cone snails in the search for potential painkillers.

“Looking to venomous creatures to cure pain may not seem very intuitive,” Deputy Director of the IMB Centre for Pain Research Dr Irina Vetter said.

“However, venoms have evolved over time to have very specific effects on the nervous system of prey, with some of the venom components causing pain, and others blocking pain pathways.

“Components that cause pain help us to understand pain pathways, and components that block pain have direct potential as painkillers.”

A new approach to painPeptides from venoms are of particular interest because unlike current painkillers, they should not be addictive, lose effectiveness over time or cause debilitating side-effects.

“The peptides we’ve found are very selective, targeting and turning off only one type of sodium channel,” Glenn said.

“This is important as other sodium channels control important physiological functions such as beating of the heart and muscle contraction, and inhibiting these channels could have serious side-effects."

The researchers are not looking for a replacement for aspirin; their focus is helping people that suffer from long-term chronic pain.

“Around the world, 15-20 per cent of the population suffer chronic pain, and the proportion is generally higher than 50 per cent for seniors,” Glenn said.

“Diabetic neuropathy, cancer pain and osteoarthritis pain could all potentially be alleviated by this new class of painkillers.”

Spider venom has legs as future painkillerIMB’s Professor Glenn King and colleagues recently discovered a new class of potential painkillers in tarantula venoms.

Many of the venoms contained peptides (mini-proteins) that blocked the Nav1.7 pain channel, which has a key role in pain transmission.

“Nav1.7 is a sodium channel located on sensory neurons, which are specialised nerve cells involved in sensing pain,” Glenn said.

“Previous research shows that people who lack Nav1.7 channels due to a naturally-occurring genetic mutation are unable to experience pain, so blocking this channel could potentially help us to switch off pain in people with normal pain pathways.

“We have nine sodium channels in our bodies and our challenge is to find peptides that can distinguish between these channels and target only Nav1.7—something current pain relief drugs can’t do but spider venom peptides most likely can.”

The team studied venoms from 205 tarantula species, finding at least one peptide that blocked pain channels in 40 per cent of the species, and seven peptides overall that showed promise for developing a new painkiller.

“We found one peptide with the right three-dimensional structure, stability and potency to form the basis of a future painkiller,” Glenn said.

“Our next step is to continue exploring the clinical potential of these peptides—and the ones we are yet to find in the 45,000 known species of spider in the world—in the hope of developing better treatments for the one in five Australians living with persistent pain.”

One day, the fuel for your car, the medicine you take and even the food you eat could be produced by tiny green algae powered by sunlight.

IMB’s Professor Ben Hankamer and his team are working to fast-track development of renewable solar fuels and other products that are CO2-neutral and reduce competition for arable land and fresh water.

“By 2050, the human population is forecast to expand to 9 billion people, requiring 50 per cent more fuel, 70 per cent more food, and 50 per cent more fresh water,” Ben said.

“At the same time, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change data show that we must reduce CO2 emissions by ~80 per cent to limit the rise in average global temperature to two degrees Celsius, the limit agreed to at the 2015 UN Conference on Climate Change.

“Achieving this reduction necessitates the rapid development of clean fuel technologies, as about 80 per cent of our global energy demand is for fuels, but almost all renewable energy technologies—solar, wind, wave—generate electricity to supply the other 20 per cent.”

Ben’s team is focused on producing solar fuels from microalgae, which have evolved over 3 billion years to harness the huge energy resource of the Sun.

“Microalgae could help us transition from a finite fossil fuel resource to a sustainable solar energy supply,” Ben said.

Harnessing the Sun The solar energy resource is so large that the sunlight striking the Earth’s surface in just two hours delivers enough energy to power the entire world economy for one year.

Plants and algae have mastered the art of harnessing this energy resource through evolving intricate systems that convert sunlight, CO2 and water into the food, fuel and atmospheric oxygen that support life on Earth.

“Compared to other crops, microalgae are highly efficient at converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy for their own growth—or for producing fuels, foods and other high-value products,” Ben said.

“My team is working to increase this efficiency further by improving production processes and genetically modifying algae cells.”

Microalgae can be grown in saline or waste water and agricultural run-off, and production systems can be located on non-arable land, reducing competition with food production and water resources.

Optimising algaeThe big challenge Ben and his team are now addressing is to optimise these production systems to make solar fuels cost-competitive with fossil fuels.

“We are using advanced modelling to analyse technology and market needs to guide system design,” Ben said.

“We’re also studying microalgae cell lines to understand the photosynthetic machinery and increase the efficiency of sunlight conversion to biomass.

“Other researchers have demonstrated that the crude oil yield from microalgae can be increased, and there is plenty of potential for further optimisation.

“Our economies and our responses to climate change depend on stable fuel supplies, so it is economically and environmentally important to invest in and develop efficient renewable fuel systems now.”

Adding valueMicroalgae have the potential to deliver much more than renewable fuels.

Microalgae biotechnologies can also power the production of high-value products such as vaccines, and animal and aquaculture feeds.

Ben and colleagues from across UQ are investigating the use of algae to produce components for dengue virus vaccines and new antibiotics.

“Having multiple markets for a range of algae products supports the refinement and cost reduction of microalgae systems, and ultimately helps to bring solar fuels closer to price parity with crude oil,” Ben said.

“Queensland is in an ideal position to take advantage of this technology, with its vast lands, abundant sunshine and saline water resources, a skilled workforce, excellent infrastructure and proximity to growing Asian markets.

“With the national focus on innovation for a strong economy, now is the time to invest in developments to secure our future fuel supply.”

FUELLING THE FUTUrE

Algal bioreactors at IMB’s Solar Biofuels Research Centre

Source: Klint, JK, Smith, JJ, Vetter, I, Rupasinghe, DB, Er, SY, Senff, S, Herzig, V, Mobli, M, Lewis, RJ, Bosmans, F and King, GF (2015), Seven novel modulators of the analgesic target NaV1.7 uncovered using a high-throughput venom-based discovery approach. British Journal of Pharmacology, 172: 2445–2458.

http://http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13081/abstracthttp://http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13081/abstracthttp://http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13081/abstracthttp://http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13081/abstracthttp://http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13081/abstracthttp://http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13081/abstracthttp://http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13081/abstracthttp://http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.13081/abstract

Associate Professor Lachlan Coin was part of an international team tackling hunger and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa by improving sweet potato crops.

rESEArCH HIGHLIGHTS

IMB researchers worked with an international team to develop an experimental drug that

blocks a key driver of inflammatory diseases —a finding that could lead to new treatments

for arthritis, liver disease and dementia.

1

IMB researchers were part of an international team that completed the most

comprehensive analysis yet of pancreatic cancer, in a study that could improve

future treatments. The study revealed four subtypes of the disease, providing new hope for personalised treatments.

Photo: Mark Graham

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IMB researchers perfected a method of growing mini-kidneys from stem cells for use in drug screening, disease modelling

and cell therapy. The mini-kidneys form all the cell types normally present in the human kidney and could allow the use of mini-organs to screen drugs to treat kidney disease or find

out if a new drug is likely to injure the kidney.

IMB researchers worked with biotechnology company Alchemia to discover a potential new class of antibiotics inspired by sugar molecules produced by bacteria. Bacteria are less likely to become resistant to an antibiotic based on a modified version of

their own sugar, so the discovery could help to combat the rise of superbugs.

6

7

Professor Mike Waters was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in recognition

of his outstanding contributions to science

during his career spanning more than 45 years. He is

IMB’s fourth fellow.

Associate Professor Mark Smythe and his team developed a new

asthma treatment that targets the underlying cause of asthma rather than just the symptoms, and could

reduce the unwanted side-effects of current treatments.

Professor Rob Parton was part of an international team awarded $US1.3 million in 2015 Human Frontier Science Program funding to help

identify how our own fat cells can be used to attack bacteria.

8

Dr Joseph Powell was part of an

international study that identified 1500 ‘ageing’

genes that could lead to improved prevention and

treatment for age-related diseases.


9

5

Two IMB researchers received ARC Linkage Project grants to team with industry partners. Professor

Ben Hankamer was awarded $340,000 to work with engineering and construction firm KBR and renewable

energy company Muradel to develop products from algae, such as foods, fuels, high-value products

including vaccines, and bioremediation. Professor Kirill Alexandrov was awarded $670,242 to work with drug

discovery company Phylogica to develop technology for producing peptide-based pharmaceuticals.

10IMB ANNUAL REPORT 2015 17


IMB Centre for Rare Diseases Research Rare diseases are more common than the name suggests.

Centre Director Associate Professor Carol Wicking said there are more than 7000 known rare diseases, with many more described each year.

“While each may be rare, together rare diseases are common, affecting around 1 in 12 Australians—including a large number of children,” she said.

“Many rare diseases are genetic and often, but not always, begin in childhood.

“Around one-third of children with a rare disease will not survive to the age of five.

“Rare diseases can affect virtually any organ in the body and frequently affect more than one in a life-threatening or chronically debilitating way.”

The IMB Centre for Rare Diseases Research aims to identify the genetic mutations causing rare diseases, model mutations in cell and animal models to confirm the link between mutations and disease, and to better understand what has gone wrong in affected cells and tissues. This information will have implications for diagnosis, and may aid in future development of therapies for patients living with a rare disease.

Researchers in the centre are working with clinical and research colleagues around the world to investigate a range of rare diseases, including diseases of the brain, heart, reproductive system, skeleton, muscles and vasculature.

“The Centre for Rare Diseases Research supports the international goal of identifying the molecular cause of most rare diseases by 2020.”

Associate Professor Carol Wicking

IMB Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research Inflammation plays an essential role in our health and survival, but can also harm us.

Centre Director Associate Professor Matt Sweet said that dysregulated inflammation lies at the heart of many human diseases, including diabetes, asthma, arthritis, sepsis, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and liver disease. He said the total burden of liver disease alone in Australia is estimated to be more than $50 billion.

“Inflammation protects us from infection and helps to heal our body after tissue damage, but it needs to be very tightly regulated and switched off once the job is done,” he said.

“Our modern lifestyle—including stress, diet, pollution, and physical inactivity—keeps the immune system on high alert and can lead to it being activated inappropriately.

“Uncontrolled inflammation can turn against our own bodies, causing damage to otherwise healthy cells, thus resulting in development and/or aggravation of disease.”

The IMB Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research is discovering the molecular and cellular processes of inflammation, understanding how inflammation progresses to disease, and transferring this knowledge into new drugs—as well as repurposing existing drugs—to prevent and treat inflammatory diseases.

Centre researchers are focused on identifying biomarkers and druggable inflammatory pathways for specific inflammatory diseases, such as chronic liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease. They are also developing new technologies, such as biosensors, to track the migration and status of inflammatory cells and mediators, which can help identify new drug targets and guide the development of new diagnostics.

“Understanding how inflammation becomes dysregulated is essential if we are to develop more effective anti-inflammatory drugs.”

Associate Professor Matt Sweet

IMB Centre for Pain Research One in five Australians lives with chronic pain.

Centre Director Professor Richard Lewis said that for more than half of these people, pain has a significant impact on their day-to-day lives.

“Chronic pain impacts mood, memory and relationships, as well as physical capabilities,” he said.

“It also has a big impact on the economy, costing Australia $34 billion per year, which is more than the cost of treating cancer, stroke, and diabetes.

“Many types of chronic pain are poorly treated by current painkillers, so we are working to understand the origins and mechanisms of pain to develop new treatments.”

The IMB Centre for Pain Research is working with experts across the world to discover and develop new molecules for treating pain in humans. Our researchers particularly focus on pain that is difficult to manage, such as burns, neuropathic, diabetic, chemotherapy and cancer pain.

“Our vision is to discover and characterise pain targets and pathways associated with chronic pain and identify molecules that will improve the treatment of chronic pain,” Richard said.

“We know that many current painkillers are not effective and come with a number of unpleasant side effects.

“Through the centre’s multidisciplinary approach to pain research, we are working to change this by developing new treatment options to improve quality of life for people living with chronic pain.”

“Through research, we can gain a better understanding of how the body feels pain and, in partnership with pain specialists, source solutions to major problems faced by people living with pain.”

Professor Richard Lewis

IMB Centre for Superbug Solutions The World Health Organization has declared antimicrobial resistance, or superbugs, to be one of the greatest threats to human health.

Centre Director Professor Matt Cooper said resistance to antibiotics is a growing global problem in treating infections, resulting in illnesses lasting longer and increasing costs to the healthcare system.

“Superbugs cost the Australian economy in excess of $1 billion each year, while bacterial infections kill more than 140 Australians each week,” he said.

“Now is the time to come together and help our community stop superbugs in their tracks before it’s too late.”

The IMB Centre for Superbug Solutions is working to understand the chemistry and biology of infections. With this knowledge, our researchers can discover new drugs and redesign existing drugs to improve effectiveness and help save lives.

Through the Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery (CO-ADD), the centre is also fast-tracking the discovery and development of new antibiotics to treat multidrug-resistant bacteria, including those that cause skin infections, sepsis, pneumonia, tuberculosis and urinary tract infections. Ultimately, the centre aims to help doctors give patients the most effective drug, the first time, in time.

“New treatments are urgently needed to prevent a return to the pre-antibiotic era, when even simple infections caused death.”

Professor Matt Cooper

Director: Associate Professor Carol Wicking

rarediseases.imb.uq.edu.au [email protected] Director: Professor Richard Lewis

Deputy Director: Dr Irina Vetter

pain.imb.uq.edu.au [email protected] Director: Associate Professor Matt Sweet

Deputy Director: Dr Kate Schroder

inflammation.imb.uq.edu.au [email protected]

Director: Professor Matt Cooper Deputy Director: Associate Professor Lachlan Coin

superbugs.imb.uq.edu.au [email protected]

rESEArCH CENTrES

Dr Kate Schroder is looking for new approaches to controlling inflammation as part of the CIDR

Claudio Cortes Rodriguez, Associate Professor Carol Wicking and Maria Rondon Galeano hope their work in the CRDR will help improve quality of life for people living with rare diseases

http://rarediseases.imb.uq.edu.au%20mailto:rarediseases%40imb.uq.edu.au?subject=http://pain.imb.uq.edu.aumailto:pain%40imb.uq.edu.au?subject=http://inflammation.imb.uq.edu.aumailto:inflammation%40imb.uq.edu.au?subject=http://superbugs.imb.uq.edu.aumailto:superbugs%40imb.uq.edu.au?subject=


FellowshipsIMB fellows are supported by a range of competitive fellowship schemes. Thanks to the support of these funding organisations, IMB fellows have the opportunity to conduct valuable research with the potential to advance global scientific progress and improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world.

Total competitive fellowships continuing in 2015

• 1 ARC Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award (DORA)

• 5 ARC Future Fellows

• 4 ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRA)

• 14 NHMRC Research Fellows

• 1 NHMRC Career Development Fellow

• 4 NHMRC Early Career Fellows

• 1 Queensland Smart Futures Fellowship

• 1 Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LERN) Postdoctoral Fellowship

Fellowships commenced in 2015

• 1 ARC Australian Laureate Fellow totalling $2,977,310

• 1 ARC Future Fellow totalling $677,352

• 1 ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) totalling $373,254

• 1 NHMRC Research Fellow totalling $739,980

• 1 NHMRC/Heart Foundation Career Development Fellow totalling $455,452

• 1 National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship totalling $200,000

GrANTS, FELLOwSHIPS ANd AwArdS

Awards

2015 award highlights included

Professor David Craik received a $1 million Ramaciotti Biomedical Research Award for his work to use plants as ‘biofactories’ to produce next-generation pharmaceuticals. He was also named an ARC Laureate Fellow and received the American Peptide Society’s 2015 Vincent du Vigneaud Award for outstanding achievements in peptide research and scientific excellence at mid-career.

GrantsThe institute performed very well in the major competitive grant rounds offered by the Australian Research Council (ARC) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for funding commencing in 2015.

Competitive grant funding represented 56 per cent ($29.8 million) of IMB’s total income in 2015 ($52.6 million), reflecting the high quality and scientific importance of our research.

In 2015, funding commenced for the following IMB-led grants

• 10 NHMRC Project grants totalling $7,903,575

• 1 NHMRC Development grant totalling $556,795

• 11 ARC Discovery Project grants totalling $5,222,900

• 2 ARC Linkage Project grants totalling $1,010,242

%3×

2×

55

30

%18the national average

success rate

national average success rate

IMB success rate

IMB success rate



ARC Discovery Project grants

NHMRC Project grants

14.9

• ANZ Trustees

• Australia-India Strategic Research Fund

• Australian Cancer Research Foundation

• Australian Research Council

• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (US)

• Bioplatforms Australia Limited

• Brainchild Foundation

• Cancer Council Queensland

• Cariplo Foundation (Italy)

• Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundations

• CURE (Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy) (US)

• G08 Australia

• Great Barrier Reef Foundation

• Heart Foundation

• Human Frontier Science Program (France)

• Ian Potter Foundation

• James S McDonnell Foundation (US)

• Lymphatic Education & Research Network (US)

• National Breast Cancer Foundation

• National Health and Medical Research Council

• National Institutes of Health (US)

• Queensland Government

• The Cass Foundation

• The Kids’ Cancer Project

• The MAWA (Medical Advances Without Animals) Trust

• Wellcome Trust (UK)

• Wound Management Innovation CRC

• WWTF – Vienna Science and Technology Fund (Austria)

2015 Sources of Competitive Funding

Competitive grant income

KEY: ARC NHMRC Queensland Government Other

$0

$5M

$10M

$15M

$20M

$25M

2013 2014 2015

Professor David Craik (right) with ARC Chief Executive Officer Professor Aidan Byrne

Professor Mike Waters (Photo: Mark Graham)

Dr Irina Vetter

Professor Mike Waters was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science during his career spanning more than 45 years. His discoveries are contributing to the development of new cancer and diabetes therapies.

Dr Ben Hogan received the Heart Foundation Researcher of the Year Award for his outstanding work in 2014 on identifying the genes and cells that control formation of the vascular and lymphatic system, and how they can be targeted to help repair the body after a heart attack or during cancer.

Dr Irina Vetter was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers to carry out research in Germany, and the Leichhardt Memorial Award for an Australian researcher to visit Germany.

Professor Paul Alewood was awarded a competitive NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship to continue his research into developing new pain therapies from venoms.

Professor Kirill Alexandrov received the National Breast Cancer Foundation Innovation and Vision in Research Award for novel and important breast cancer research.

Dr Brett Collins received the Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology (ANZSCDB) Emerging Leader Award for his research into the mechanisms of cellular membrane trafficking in health and disease.

Professor Glenn King was awarded the Australia and New Zealand Society for Magnetic Resonance medal for outstanding contributions to magnetic resonance research.

Professors David Craik and David Fairlie received a UQ Partnership in Research Excellence Award for their work with Pfizer Australia to produce a new class of drugs by engineering peptide drugs to be taken as a tablet rather than via injection.

Dr Joseph Powell received a UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award to support his research that aims to develop a computational method for examining how genetic variants contribute to common diseases.


% %

Research training

Research higher degree students

Research higher degree conferrals


LEArNING

IMB students Mriga Dutt and Prashanth Jutty Rajan


rESEArCH TrAININGDevelopment through mentorship In 2015, IMB supported 129 active research higher degree (RHD) students. We also hosted 23 undergraduate students, 6 coursework masters students, 21 summer students, 12 winter students and 39 occupational trainees during the year. Collectively, our IMB student cohort had members from over 30 countries.

Students at IMB are encouraged to expand their skill sets and reach their scientific potential in a culture of research excellence. In a drive to enhance their research experience, a series of workshops were offered to students in 2015 on topics including biostatistics, communication and data integrity.

RHD students were also invited and encouraged to participate in events organised by IMB’s student association, SIMBA, and the IMB Early Career Researchers Committee. These events included a range of career and mentoring seminars, as well as events for social and professional networking and peer support.

Singing their praises There were many opportunities to celebrate student successes at IMB during 2015.

Kathleen Yin (Vetter group) won the Hacking Health hackathon at the Health Informatics Conference in June 2015. She was also part of an IMB team, with Prashanth Jutty Rajan (Lewis group) and Alan Robertson (Coin group), that received first place at Brisbane HealthHack in October 2015 for developing an app to help chronic pain patients. The prototype app, PainPal, will help patients manage the impact of the disease on their quality of life, and provide de-identified data to researchers to help guide the development of new treatments for chronic pain.

Kuastav Das Gupta (Sweet group) was awarded the Young Science Ambassador Award for Brisbane by Wonder of Science and visited schools to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, along with judging regional science conferences at Dalby and Roma.

Clarissa Rios Rojas (Koopman group) was selected as a global champion for women’s economic empowerment by the UN’s Empower Women platform. Clarissa started a non-profit, Ekpapalek, to empower Latin students and promote the social and economic development of Latin American countries.

Angie Jarrad (Cooper group) won the Women In Technology PhD Career Start Award for her research to develop antibiotics to fight gut pathogens.

Zoe Schofield (Cooper group) was a finalist in the New Investigator Award at the 12th World Congress on Inflammation in Boston, US, for her work investigating the link between gut bacteria, diet and the human immune system in reducing inflammatory injury. Ms Schofield was awarded second place for her research presentation.

Mriga Dutt (Lewis group), Tae Gyu Oh (Muscat group) and Clarissa Rios Rojas (Koopman group) represented IMB at the UQ inter-institute final of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.

Numerous IMB students received travel awards during the year to attend various conferences around the world or undertake research placements within international laboratories. Such experiences are incredibly valuable for our students, giving them an opportunity to present their research to an expanded audience, learn from international peers and expand their networks.

Travel grant highlightsNicholas Condon (Stow group) received a UQ Graduate School International Travel award to visit Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus, US, to use the Lattice Light Sheet microscope, and then attend the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Tae Gyu Oh (Muscat group) received an award to attend the 2015 Nuclear Receptor EMBO Conference, France, where he presented a talk.

Sing Yan Jessie Er (King group) received a UQ Graduate School International Travel award to visit Professor Jennifer Cochran’s lab at Stanford University, US, to learn state-of-the-art imaging techniques. As part of the trip, she presented a poster at the Peptide Therapeutic Symposium, US, and a poster at the International Peptide Symposium, Singapore, for which she won a prize.

Marija Kojic (Wainwright group) presented a poster at the Gordon Research Conference: Cerebellum, US, and then won first prize for her oral presentation on the same work at the 6th International Postgraduate Symposium in Biomedical Sciences, UQ.

When it comes to an enriching student experience, it takes more than top researchers and world-class facilities to set the foundation for a meaningful career. While these are important factors—and definitely attributes students can expect to find at IMB—a supportive environment and career mentorship also play a vital role.

Where are they now? We celebrated with 28 of our RHD students who graduated during 2015. Many graduates secured research positions at leading organisations around the world, or accepted exciting roles within the corporate sector, including:

Dr Kathryn McClelland (formerly Koopman group) is now working for the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences in the US.

Dr Keerthana Krishnan (formerly Grimmond group) is now an applications and product development scientist at NEBNext New England Biolabs in the US.

Dr Sheila Barbero (formerly Fairlie group) is now a trainee patent attorney at Griffith Hack, Melbourne.

Dr Natasha Chaudhary (formerly Parton group) is now working at the Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University.

Angie Jarrad receiving her Women In Technology PhD Career Start Award

SIMBA executive committeePainPal team – Prashanth, Kathleen and Alan


“IMB has amazing research facilities and numerous groups specialising in medicinal chemistry, the area of research that I wanted to pursue for my doctoral studies. Within these groups, biologists and chemists work side by side to develop new medicines. IMB also has many links with industry and I was keen to learn about the translation of basic research into consumer products. The opportunity to be part of this unique interplay ultimately saw me choose IMB.”

Angie Jarrad IMB PhD student (Cooper group)

rESEArCH HIGHEr dEGrEE STUdENTSHafiza Abdul Ghani

Nikita Abraham

Joanna Akello Agwa

Eduardo Albornoz

Balmaceda

Rubbiya Ali

Sungmin Baek

Guillaume Bernard

Damien Bierschenk

Brandon Binnie

Chaseleigh Bradley

Lou Brillault

Samuel Capon

Irene Chassagnon

Smrita Chaudhury

Wenhan Chen

Gamma Chi

Ivy Chiang

Chun Yuen (Jonathan)

Chow

Signe Christensen

Nicholas Condon

Yingnan Cong

Claudio Cortes

Rodrigues

Ben

Cristofori-Armstrong

Yi Cui

Zhenling Cui

Jason Da Silva

Kaustav Das Gupta

Jessica De Angelis

Darren Do

Tram Ahn Do

Kinga Duszyc

Mriga Dutt

Ingrid Edwards

Sing Yan Er

Chun-Wei Feng

Jordan Follett

Emily Furlong

Dejan Gagoski

Joel Goode

Daniela Grassini

Lin Grimm

Shafali Gupta

Marwa Hussain Ali

Mathilde Israel

Kapil Jain

Gisela Jakob

Angie Jarrad

Prerna Jha

Pengxiang Ji

Husen Jia

Yan Jiang

Yuhong Jiang

Wooram Jung

Prashanth Jutty Rajan

Pabasara Kalansuriya

Johan Kamal Hamidon

Sanjaya KC

Marija Kojic

Lalith Kummari

Soohyun Kwon

Christian Larney

Hyun Jae Lee

Geraldine Ler

Xuan Liang

Ye-Wheen Lim

Chao Liu

Emma Livingstone

Bruno Madio

Barbara Maier

Justin Mitchell

Osama Mohamed

Ambika Mosale

Venkatesh Murthy

Masuda Nabi

Laizuman Nahar

Pratik Neupane

Hoang Son Nguyen

Daniel Neilsen

Georgianna Oguis

Tae Gyu Oh

Jeroen Overman

Blessy Paul

Samuel Perry

Wanida Phetsang

Sarah Piper

Miranda Pitt

Kwan Yuen Poon

Rosa Prahl

Pritesh Prasad

Anggia Prasetyoputri

Haiou Qu

Michelle Quezada

Iniguez

Sassan Rahnama

Anjaneya Ravipati

Clarissa Rios Rojas

John Roles

Jessica Rowley

Manohar Salla

Zoe Schofield

Zhuo Shang

Haojing Shao

Janina Steinbeck

Jamie Stevens

Claudia Stocks

Jasmin Straube

Megan Surawski

Atefeh Taherian Fard

Jessica Teo

Wei Xuan Teo

Vikas Tillu

Zewen Tuong

Peter van der Heide

Darya Vanichkina

Felicitas Vernen

Dan Wang

Hongyang Wang

Krishantha Pradeep

Wardamune Gedara

Kenneth Wee

Xiaosa Wu

Yeping Wu

Dake Xiong

Weijun Xu

Jennifer Yarnold

Jeremy Yeo

Kathleen Yin

Alina Zamoshnikova

Eugene Zhang

Chenxi Zhou

Rebekah Ziegman

Kerstin Zoidl



Name Supervisor Degree Thesis title Alumni destination

Shaffinaz Abd Rahman

Associate Professor Gary Leong

PhD A Systems Biology Approach towards Child Obesity and Obesity-Related Diseases: Integration of Clinical, Genetic, Hormonal and NMR Metabonomic Factors

Ng Teng Fong General Hospital Sleep Laboratory, Singapore

Md. Shohidul Alam Professor Glenn King PhD Engineering Insect-Resistant Plants by Transgenic Expression of an Insecticidal Spider-Venom Peptide

Bangladesh

Juliana Ariffin Associate Professor Matt Sweet

PhD Characterisation of human macrophage functions in innate immunity

Harvard Medical School, Boston, US

Megha Bajaj Professor Matt Cooper PhD Development of novel anti-infective drugs targeting microbial proteins

bioMérieux Australia Pty Ltd, Sydney

Sheila Barbero Professor David Fairlie PhD Towards inhibitors of hydrolytic enzymes involved in inflammation

Trainee Patent Attorney, Griffith Hack, Melbourne

Niraj Bende Professor Glenn King PhD Bioinsecticides for the control of human disease vectors

Bioline, UQ

Sisi Bi Professor Matt Cooper MPhil Mode of action studies on Glycopeptide antibiotics targeting Biomimetic Gram-positive bacterial membranes

General Manager, Make Trips Pty Ltd

Natasha Chaudhary Professor Rob Parton PhD Molecular and Functional Characterization of a Clathrin Independent Endocytic pathway, the CLIC/GEEC pathway

Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, US

Kaiwen Chen Dr Kate Schroder PhD Inflammasome function in neutrophils Schroder lab

IMB, UQ

Mu Cheng Professor Matt Cooper PhD Mode of action studies on antibiotics targeting Gram-positive bacterial cell wall and cell membranes

New parent

Anupma Choudhary Dr Ryan Taft PhD The hidden microRNA biology of mammals Not disclosed

Thomas Clairfeuille Dr Brett Collins PhD Structural basis of protein cargo transport by sorting nexins

Genentech

Charlotte Dsouza Professor David Craik PhD Structure-activity relationships and development of disulfide-rich cyclic peptides as pharmaceutical templates

Not disclosed

Keerthana Krishnan Professor Sean Grimmond

PhD Functional characterization of miRNAs in tumour biology

Applications and Product Development Scientist – NEBNext, New England Biolabs, US

Carus Lau Professor Glenn King PhD Understanding the molecular basis of the interaction between spider toxins and the voltage sensor domain of voltage-gated ion channels

Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Sydney

Name Supervisor Degree Thesis title Alumni destination

Tunjung Mahatmanto

Professor David Craik PhD Discovery and applications of seed-derived cyclic peptides

InPhyto Organic Products & Functional Foods Specialist, Brawijaya University, Department of Agricultural Product Technology, Indonesia

Uru Malik Professor David Craik PhD The science and business of novel therapeutics: the need for a complete picture

Consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Australia

Kathryn McClelland Professor Peter Koopman

PhD Uncovering new candidate genes for involvement in disorders of sex development using RNA-seq and Morpholinos

National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, US

Paola Ojeda Ojeda Professor David Craik PhD Chlorotoxin as a natural scaffold for the development of drugs

Center for Bioinformatics and Molecular Simulation, University of Talca, Chile

Rashmi Priya Professor Alpha Yap PhD Junctional Rho GTPase signalling: molecules and mechanisms

Yap Lab

IMB, UQ

Xiaying Qi Associate Professor Rohan Teasdale

PhD The role of sorting nexins in macropinocytosis and Salmonella invasion

Studying a Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation

Yu Ling Kelly Quek Professor Sean Grimmond

PhD Structural variation in cancer genomes & the identification of personalized DNA-based cancer biomarkers

South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide

Timothy Reeks Professor Paul Alewood PhD Discovery and characterisation of novel low molecular weight bioactive peptides from Australian elapid venom

Queensland Brain Institute, UQ

Darshani Rupasinghe

Professor Glenn King PhD Developing novel analgesics to treat chronic pain: inhibiting voltage gated sodium channel 1.7 with spider-venom peptides

King lab

IMB, UQ

Jingjing Wan Professor Paul Alewood PhD Synthesis of peptide dendrimers and their applications in biomedicine

Alewood lab

IMB, UQ

Juliane Wolf Professor Ben Hankamer

PhD Effective scale up of microalgal systems for the production of biomass and biofuels

Hankamer lab

IMB, UQ

David Wood Professor Sean Grimmond

PhD Investigation of human transcriptional complexity by massively parallel sequencing

Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, UQ

Yun Kit Yeoh Professor Phil Hugenholtz

PhD Investigation of root and associated soil microbiomes of sugarcane and other plants

Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, UQ

2015 rHd CONFErrALS

Kathryn McClelland, David Wood, Jingjing Wan, Timothy Reeks and Yash Chhabra at the July graduation


Research commercialisation

Global collaborations

Community engagement

Scientific engagement


ENGAGEMENT

Dr Maggie Hardy and Professor Jenny Martin


rESEArCH COMMErCIALISATIONIMB works closely with The University of Queensland’s commercialisation company UniQuest to translate important life sciences discoveries into benefits for industry and our community.

UniQuest is one of Australia’s leading research commercialisation companies and specialises in global technology transfer.

In 2015, IMB continued its successful track record in the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Linkage Project grants scheme, which supports research and development projects between higher education and industry.

In addition to managing eight existing ARC Linkage Project grants partnerships, the institute secured funding for two new ARC Linkage Projects. Professor Kirill Alexandrov partnered with drug discovery company Phylogica to develop technology for producing peptide-based pharmaceuticals; and Professor Ben Hankamer partnered with engineering and construction firm KBR, and renewable energy company Muradel, to develop renewable fuels and high-value products from algae.

With UniQuest’s support, the institute also secured 10 new funded research agreements with key industry partners including major pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies. This included partnering with Australian global agrochemical company Nufarm to produce next-generation crop protection agents. Researchers are investigating spider venom toxins in the hope of identifying new insecticides with improved effectiveness and safety.

Throughout the year, IMB managed an intellectual property (IP) portfolio of 35 patent families, including patents related to diagnostics, therapeutics and drug discovery tools. One of IMB’s patent applications was granted in 2015, and nine new provisional patents were filed, including drug candidates for inflammatory diseases, epilepsy and stroke, and new technologies for harvesting algae, creating peptide variants for drug screening, and using electrochemical biosensors to improve point-of-care testing.

During the past decade, IMB has proudly produced several spin-out companies and continues to maintain close relationships with many of these, including Protagonist Therapeutics, which has discovery operations in both the US and at IMB, maintaining the biotech’s access to IMB expertise and capabilities. The biotech is developing oral drugs for diseases that currently require injected treatments, providing a safer, more effective, convenient and affordable choice for patients and the healthcare system. In 2015, Protagonist raised $40 million from Series C financing to begin clinical trials of their drug candidate for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

IMB further strengthened its commercial networks in 2015, attending major industry events including BIO2015 in Philadelphia and AusBiotech, showcasing IMB technologies and commercialisation opportunities to potential industry partners. We also hosted visitors from major multinational companies, including CSL, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Nufarm and GE Healthcare.

IMB is committed to training its postgraduate students and early career researchers in working with industry to take their discoveries out of the lab and into the community. This is facilitated by UniQuest’s annual two-day commercialisation workshop. In 2015, 34 IMB researchers attended the workshop, where they received advice on identifying and protecting IP, and on the different funding options and routes available to commercialise IP and knowledge.

UniQuest will continue to work alongside IMB’s research teams in 2016 to pursue commercial opportunities in the areas of human therapeutics, including new treatments for inflammation, pain, metabolic disorders, infection and cancer; agriculture, including insecticides and pesticides; and biotechnology, including microalgae-based biofuels and production of high-value materials.

Patent families managed by research area

5 agricultural/industrial biotechnology 6 diagnostics/devices 4 drug discovery tools 1 therapeutic target 19 therapeutics

35

10ARC Linkage Projects with

industry partners

10new funded industry

collaborations signed in 2015

“Over the past five years, our collaboration with The University of Queensland has been particularly fruitful.

We’ve had a great opportunity to engage with some very passionate scientists, we’ve worked on some very challenging targets, and we’ve helped grow the knowledge and understanding of peptide therapeutics within our organisation.

We’ve been very fortunate to collaborate with Professor Fairlie, Professor Craik and the teams that work in their labs.

The work we’re doing with IMB and The University of Queensland is a true example of collaboration built on strong trust, communication and passion.”

Dr Daniel Grant, Senior Director and Head, External Research & Development Innovation, Pfizer Australia

Professor David Craik from IMB with Dr Daniel Grant from Pfizer Australia receiving the 2015 UQ Partnership in Research Excellence Award



GLOBAL COLLABOrATIONS

1% Africa 11% Asia 35% Australia + New Zealand 31% Europe 20% North America 2% South America

12% Industry 13% Clinical 4% Not-for-profit 71% Academic

Collaborations by region Major collaborations by type

Collaborations in Australia + New Zealand

105Academic• Australian National University

(Canberra)• Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute

(Melbourne)• Bio21, University of Melbourne• Burnet Institute (Melbourne)• Deakin University (Melbourne)• European Molecular Biology Laboratory

(EMBL) Australia (Melbourne)• Florey Institute of Neuroscience

& Mental Health (Melbourne)• Garvan Institute of Medical Research

(Sydney)• Griffith University, Eskitis Institute

(Brisbane)• Griffith University, School of Medical

Sciences, Menzies Health Institute Queensland (Gold Coast)

• James Cook University (Townsville)• La Trobe University (Melbourne)• Liggins Institute (New Zealand)• Macquarie University (Sydney)• Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical

Sciences (Melbourne)• Monash University (Melbourne)• Peter Doherty Institute for Infection

and Immunity (Melbourne)• Prince Henry’s Institute (Melbourne)• QFAB Bioinformatics (Brisbane)• Queensland University of Technology

(Brisbane)• RMIT University (Melbourne)• South Australian Health & Medical

Research Institute (Adelaide)• Telethon Institute for Child Health

Research (Perth)• The University of Adelaide• The University of Auckland (New Zealand)• The University of Melbourne• The University of Sydney• The University of Waikato (New Zealand)• The University of Western Australia

(Perth)• University of Newcastle• University of New South Wales (Sydney)• University of Otago (New Zealand)• University of South Australia (Adelaide)• University of Southern Queensland

(Toowoomba)• University of Technology Sydney• University of Wollongong• UQ Australian Centre for Ecogenomics

(Brisbane)

• UQ Australian Infectious Diseases Centre (Brisbane)

• UQ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (Brisbane)

• UQ Centre for Advanced Imaging (Brisbane)

• UQ Centre for Integrated Preclinical Drug Development (Brisbane)

• UQ Centre for Integrative Legume Research (Brisbane)

• UQ Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis (Brisbane)

• UQ Centre for Neurogenetic and Statistical Genomics (Brisbane)

• UQ Global Change Institute (Brisbane)• UQ Protein Expression Facility (Brisbane)• UQ Queensland Brain Institute (Brisbane)• UQ School of Agriculture and Food

Science (Brisbane)• UQ School of Biological Sciences

(Brisbane)• UQ School of Biomedical Sciences

(Brisbane)• UQ School of Chemistry and Molecular

Biosciences (Brisbane)• UQ School of Mathematics and

Physics (Brisbane)• UQ School of Medicine (Brisbane)• UQ School of Pharmacy (Brisbane)• Victor Chang Cardiac Research

Institute (Sydney)• Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

(Melbourne)

Clinical• Centenary Institute Medical Research

Foundation (Sydney)• Genetic Health Queensland (Brisbane)• Mater Hospital (Brisbane)• Mater Medical Research Institute

(Brisbane)• Mater Pathology (Brisbane)• Menzies School of Health Research

(Darwin)• Murdoch Childrens Research Institute

(Melbourne)• Pathology Queensland (Brisbane)• Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

(Melbourne)• Princess Alexandra Hospital (Brisbane)• QIMR Berghofer Medical Research

Institute (Brisbane)• Queensland Mycobacterium Reference

Laboratory, Queensland Health (Brisbane)

• Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (Brisbane)

• Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne)• SA Pathology (Adelaide)• St Vincent’s Institute of Medical

Research (Melbourne)• Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology (Brisbane)• The Children’s Hospital at Westmead

(Sydney)• Translational Research Institute

(Brisbane)• UQ Centre for Clinical Research

(Brisbane)• UQ Diamantina Institute (Brisbane)• UQ Mater Medical Research Institute

(Brisbane)• Westmead Hospital (Sydney)

Industry• Alchemia (Brisbane)• Australian Nuclear Science and

Technology Organisation (Sydney)• Australian Superintendence Company

(Brisbane)• BioAustralis (Sydney)• Bioplatforms Australia (Sydney)• Bioproton (Brisbane)• CSIRO Agriculture (Brisbane)• Eli Lilly Australia (Sydney)• Innovate Ag (Wee Waa)• Janssen (Sydney)• KBR (Brisbane)• Microbial Screening Technologies

(Sydney)• Muradel (Adelaide)• Nufarm (Melbourne)• Phylogica (Perth)• Protagonist (Brisbane)• Sun Rice (Leeton)

Not-for-profit• Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra)• Australian Synchrotron (Melbourne)• Cancer Council Queensland (Brisbane)• Great Barrier Reef Foundation (Brisbane)• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Authority (Townsville)• Mission Massimo Foundation

(Melbourne)• National Breast Cancer Foundation

(Sydney)• National Computational Infrastructure

(Canberra)• The Kids’ Cancer Project (Sydney)


Collaborations in Africa

3Academic• African Network for Drugs and

Diagnostics Innovation (ANDI) (Ethiopia)

• German University in Cairo (Egypt)

• University of Nairobi (Kenya)

Collaborations in Asia

33Academic• Academia Sinica (Taiwan)

• Bangalore University (India)

• Chulalongkorn University (Thailand)

• CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (India)

• Fudan University (China)

• Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)

• Hainan University (China)

• Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)

• Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (Singapore)

• KAIST, University in Daejeon (South Korea)

• Kasetsart University (Thailand)

• Khon Kaen University (Thailand)

• King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia)

• Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)

• Mechanobiology Institute of Singapore

• Mukogawa Women’s University (Japan)

• National University of Singapore

• RKDF University (India)

• Saurashtra University (India)

• Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)

• Tel Aviv University (Israel)

• Tianjin Institute for Industrial Biotechnology (China)

• Tianjin University (China)

• Tokyo Medical and Dental University (Japan)

• Tsinghua University (China)

• Universiti Putra Malaysia

• University of Kyoto (Japan)

• University of Peking (China)

• Wuhan University (China)

• Zhejiang A & F University (China)

Clinical• National Centre for Biological Sciences

(India)

• Nippon Medical School (Japan)

Industry• Mongolia New Veyong Bio-chemical

Corporation (Mongolia)


Collaborations in Europe

92Academic• Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg

(Germany)• Basel Biozentrum (Switzerland)• Bielefeld University (Germany)• Bioscientia Center for Human Genetics

(Germany)• Cancer Research UK Cambridge

Institute (UK)• Cardiff University (UK)• Centre Europeen de Recherche en

Biologie et Medecine (France)• Centro Nacional de Biotecnología

(CNB), CSIC (Spain)• Curie Institute (France)• DamStem, University of Copenhagen

(Denmark)• ETH Zurich (Switzerland)• European Molecular Biology Laboratory

(EMBL) (Germany)• European Bioinformatics Institute

(EMBL-EBI) (UK)• Friedrich-Alexander-University

Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany)• Heidelberg University (Germany)• Hubrecht Institute for Developmental

Biology and Stem Cell Research (Netherlands)

• IFOM (Italy)• Imperial College London (UK)• INSERM UMR 1152 (France)• Institut Pasteur (France)• Instituto de Química Orgánica General

(Spain)• John Innes Centre (UK)• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

(Germany)• Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)• Kings College London (UK)• Leibniz Centre for Medicine and

Biosciences (Germany)• Loughborough University (UK)• Martin Luther University of Halle-

Wittenberg (Germany)

• Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine (Germany)

• Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Germany)

• National University of Pharmacy (Ukraine)

• N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry (Russia)

• Newcastle University (UK)• Paris Descartes University (France)• Sahlgrenska Center for Cardiovascular

and Metabolic Research, University of Gothenburg (Sweden)

• Sapienza – Università di Roma (Italy)• Technische Universität Dresden

(Germany)• The National Center for Scientific

Research (CNRS) (France)• Trinity College (Republic of Ireland)• Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1

(France)• University College Cork (UK)• University College London (UK)• University Medical Center Freiburg

(Germany)• University of Barcelona (Spain)• University of Bath (UK)• University of Birmingham (UK)• University of Bristol (UK)• University of Cambridge (UK)• University of Copenhagen (Denmark)• University of East Anglia (UK)• University of Edinburgh (UK)• University of Essex (UK)• University of Geneva (Switzerland)• University of Graz (Austria)• University of Groningen (Netherlands)• University of Hamburg (Germany)• University of Helsinki (Finland)• University of Lausanne (Switzerland)• University of Liverpool (UK)• University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)• University of Lyon (France)• University of Manchester (UK)

• University of Milan (Italy)• University of Montpellier (France)• University of Montpellier 2 (France)• University of Nice Sophia Antipolis

(France)• University of Nottingham (UK)• University of Oslo (Norway)• University of Oxford (UK)• University of Parma (Italy)• University of Rennes 1 (France)• University of Sheffield (UK)• University of Stockholm (Sweden)• University of Strathclyde (UK)• University of Ulm (Germany)• University of Warwick (UK)• University of Wroclaw (Poland)• University of Zurich (Switzerland)• Uppsala University (Sweden)• VU University Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Clinical• Erasmus MC (Netherlands)• St George’s University Hospital (UK)

Industry• Adlego Biomedical AB (Sweden)• AstraZeneca (Sweden)• Avicenna Oncology (Switzerland)• Benchmark Holdings (UK)• Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany)• Defence Science & Technology

Laboratory (UK)• iNovacia AB (Sweden)• Pfizer (UK)• Zealand Pharma (Denmark)

Not-for-profit• Cariplo Foundation (Italy)• Wellcome Trust (UK)

Academic• Boston University (US)• Cardiovascular Research Institute,

University of California (US)• Dalhousie University (Canada)• Emory University (US)• Georgia Institute of Technology (US)• Harvard University (US)• Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Advanced Imaging Center, Janelia Research Campus (US)

• Johns Hopkins University (US)• Laval University (Canada)• Marshall B. Ketchum University (US)• Memorial University of Newfoundland

(Canada)• National Cancer Institute (US)• Oregon Health & Science University (US)• Rutgers University (US)• Saint Louis University School of

Medicine (US)• Stanford University (US)• St. Francis Xavier University (Canada)• Texas Tech University (US)• University of Arizona (US)• University of British Columbia (Canada)• University of Calgary (Canada)• University of California, Irvine (US)

• University of California, San Diego (US)• University of California, San Francisco (US)• University of Chicago (US)• University of Miami (US)• University of Montana (US)• University of New Mexico (US)• University of North Carolina at Chapel

Hill (US)• University of Pennyslvania (US)• University of Prince Edward Island

(Canada)• University of Southern California (US)• University of Tennessee (US)• University of Texas Health Science

Centre at San Antonio (US)• University of Texas Medical School at

Houston (US)• University of Virginia (US)• University of Washington (US)• University of Wisconsin (US)• Yale University (US)

Clinical• Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)• Children’s National Medical Centre (US)• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research

Center (US)• Massachusetts General Hospital (US)

• Mayo Clinic Children’s Center (US)• Medical University of South Carolina (US)• Montreal Children’s Hospital, McGill

University Health Centre (Canada)• Montreal Neurological Institute and

Hospital, McGill University (Canada)• Mount Sinai Hospital (US)• National Institutes of Health (US)• St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical

Center (US)• The Hospital for Sick Children (Canada)

Industry• Alere (US)• Elanco (US)• Illumina (US)• Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical

Research and Development (US)• Pfizer (US)• Progenra (US)

Not-for-profit• James S. McDonnell Foundation (US)• Lymphatic Education & Research

Network (US)

Academic• Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

(Brazil)• State University of Northern Rio de

Janeiro (Brazil)• University of Campinas (Brazil)• University of La Frontera (Chile)• University of São Paulo (Brazil)

Clinical• Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou

(Brazil)

Collaborations in North America

Collaborations in South America

59

6


IMB scientists are inspired by the community to discover new ways to prevent, diagnose and cure disease, and accelerate solutions for significant social and environmental challenges.

We provided opportunities for the community to share in the excitement of our discoveries, and enabled them to understand the value of the incredible scientific research that is conducted in our institute.

During 2015 we welcomed more than 4700 external visitors to the institute, including students, donors, scientific collaborators, industry partners, media, politicians, and community supporters. Our visitors joined us for a range of events, including laboratory tours, public seminars, scientific conferences, and student information sessions.

Our students and early-career researchers honed their science communication and engagement skills through their involvement in our Science Ambassador program. Our 35 volunteer ambassadors played a vital role in showcasing our research to the public at a range of events, and inspired future students to choose a career in science.

Beating the odds against brain cancer During National Science Week, IMB hosted an event with renowned neurosurgeon Professor Charlie Teo AM in conversation with multi-award winning journalist, Madonna King. Mr Barrie Littlefield, Head of Engagement, Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, also shared his family’s experiences with this devastating disease.

Brain cancer kills more people under 40 in Australia than any other cancer. Professor Teo shared his vision for treating brain cancer in the future and discussed the important role community support and world-class research play in helping to beat the odds against brain cancer.

The event was attended by over 230 community members and was a great chance to showcase IMB’s cancer research, including Professor Brandon Wainwright’s work to develop personalised treatments for children with brain tumours.

“The event was terrific and inspiring because it covered different angles—the clinician (Professor Charlie Teo AM), the personally affected dad (Mr Barrie Littlefield) talking of his experience, and the scientist (Professor Brandon Wainwright).”

Attendee

Watch the event video at youtube.com/IMBatUQ

Living with pain‘Spray-on skin’ pioneer and 2005 Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Wood AM delivered a moving address to more than 250 people who joined us for the IMB Centre for Pain Research ‘Living with Pain’ community event in July. Centre Deputy Director Dr Irina Vetter explained how pain is transmitted through the body, and how IMB’s research will lead to more effective drugs for pain management in the future. The event opened with an inspirational video message from burns survivor Turia Pitt, who spoke about the excruciating pain she suffered while recovering from burns to 60 per cent of her body.

The panel, moderated by Dr Paul Gray, Deputy Director of Anaesthesia (Pain Management), Princess Alexandra Hospital, included representatives from the IMB Centre for Pain Research as well as patient advocacy group Chronic Pain Australia. The panel discussed the trauma of pain and how animal venom research at IMB may provide significantly better management of pain while eliminating the side effects of current medications.

“Thank you! The work you do changes lives and gives hope for the future.”

Attendee

“From the volunteer at the car park to the young researchers talking about the sea animals they were researching, to the truly magnificent Professor Fiona Wood AM, I was absolutely honoured and privileged to attend.”

Attendee


IMB Centre for Superbug Solutions launchThe IMB Centre for Superbug Solutions launched in spectacular fashion with 200 people joining us at UQ’s Customs House in September.

The event featured a number of high-profile speakers in the field, including England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies DBE FRS (via video message), Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young, UQ alumnus and bacterial infection survivor and advocate Mr Matthew Ames, former Bond girl and bacterial infection survivor Daphne Deckers (via video message), and local clinicians and antibiotic awareness advocates.

The Centre is tackling the looming global health crisis of drug-resistant bacteria—superbugs—through a worldwide search for new antibiotics.

“As a member of the general public, this helped me a lot to understand what I could do to help, and how to prompt my doctor for other tests if I really felt I was not getting the right answers, and to know that it’s okay to ask.”

Attendee


Life Sciences@UQ Networking eventWe were pleased to welcome more than 150 attendees to our Life Sciences@UQ Networking event in September at Customs House.

Our Life Sciences@UQ events demonstrate leadership in the life sciences sector by bringing together industry, government and researchers from across UQ and other research organisations, to build networks and collaborations that will lead to life science breakthroughs.

The Hon Leeanne Enoch MP, Minister for Science and Innovation, presented an address and took part in a panel alongside Professor Robyn Ward AM, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, UQ; Ms Winna Brown, Assurance Partner, Ernst & Young; Mr Mark Sowerby, Managing Director, Blue Sky Alternative Investments Limited; and Dr Peter Welburn, Managing Director, Eiger Health Consulting Group.

COMMUNITy ENGAGEMENT

Professor Brandon Wainwright welcomes attendees to Life Sciences@UQ Networking event

Donors tour IMB as part of UQ's Celebration of Giving

Heart Foundation supporter Joan OKeefe takes a look down the microscope during her visit to IMB

The IMB Centre for Superbug Solutions, which will tackle the looming global health crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, was launched in September

The Parton group shows their support for Rare Diseases Day

http://youtube.com/IMBatUQhttp://youtube.com/IMBatUQhttp://youtube.com/IMBatUQ


We opened our institute to visitorsProfessor Brandon Wainwright welcomed federal MP The Hon Jane Prentice to IMB in May to learn more about the innovative research carried out at our institute. Ms Prentice toured Professor David Fairlie’s and Dr Kate Schroder’s labs and discussed their inflammation and obesity research projects that may revolutionise patient care.

In conjunction with UQ’s annual Celebration of Giving, IMB hosted tours for UQ donors in April. Our visitors enjoyed hearing about the research conducted at IMB, and seeing the spiders, zebrafish, hydrogen-powered model car, NMR facility and more.

In June, a group of Cancer Council Queensland’s (CCQ) face-to-face fundraisers visited some of our CCQ-funded IMB researchers. The frontline fundraisers toured our research labs and gained important insights into the exciting cancer research projects made possible thanks to CCQ’s generous support.

In November, we welcomed staff and supporters of the Heart Foundation to tour IMB’s cardiac and vascular biology and genomics labs and meet Dr Ben Hogan, who was awarded the Heart Foundation’s Researcher of the Year. Ms Deborah Fraser from the Heart Foundation said: “Our supporters were captivated and inspired with the research that is taking place in v

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